NORTH BENNINGTON—Bennington Police continue to investigate the theft of a five-foot statue of the Blessed Virgin from Mary’s Garden at St. John the Baptist Church in North Bennington.

The statue was discovered missing Aug. 31 and found the same day on the bank of the Walloomsac River; it is unclear when it was taken.

“I was surprised when I received the call while eating dinner [that] evening and was asked, ‘Where is Mary?’ I said, ‘Mary who?,’” said Holy Cross Father Robert Wiseman, administrator of St. John the Baptist Church and Sacred Heart St. Francis de Sales Church in Bennington. Parishioner “Henry [Simpatico] said, ‘the statue of Mary in the garden.’ I said, ‘Call the police.’”

Known as the Madonna della Strada (Madonna of the Street), the statue was mounted on a fiberglass base, which was bonded to a concrete pad that was ripped off when the vandals removed it.

There were also a number of gouges on the body of the statue.

A local newspaper photographer saw the statue near the river and filed photos she took of it and solved the mystery of from where it had been taken.

The Demetz Studio in Italy has been contacted for specific information regarding the reconstruction of the base.

Father Wiseman and parishioners hope to have the statue back in place in time for a Marian service in October to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Mary’s Garden.

“I think the one(s) who took it wanted us to find it,” Father Wiseman said. “I would like to know why they took it.”

Call Corporal David Faden at the Bennington Police Department at 802-442-1030 with any information regarding the theft.

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